Illinois Restoration Sites

When the public’s natural resources are injured by a release of hazardous substances or oil, federal and state law provide mechanisms, Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) or NRDA-like processes, that authorize the State of Illinois to seek compensation for the public for injuries to natural resources. Such compensation is often in the form of restoration project implementation.

Restoration projects are selected based on their ability to efficiently utilize restoration funds with the intent to restore, rehabilitate, and/or replace habitats of injured resources (including groundwater) and the services the habitats provide. These projects can be intensive efforts, intended to quickly return resources to pre-existing conditions, or less intensive with the intent to allow the resources to recover naturally with minimal management activities. The objective of the restoration project is often to increase habitat for natural resources such as plants and animals, including but not limited to, fish, mussels, insects, birds, mammals, and reptiles/amphibians.